Avenging Angels (Bad Times Book 3)

the stranger said in a soothing voice.
“You have more?” Gratus quavered.
“Much more. All you could want.”
“What must I do to get it?” Gratus was weeping openly, his hunger was so great.
“Anything I ask,” the stranger said and smiled, revealing such teeth as must only be seen on Olympus.

6
Our Lunch With Samuel
“We have a lot of questions,” Dwayne said.
“I don’t have a lot of answers for you,” Samuel said.
“And why don’t I believe that?” Dwayne said.
“Can we start with why you’re here?” Caroline said.
The restaurant remained empty except for waitstaff preparing tables for the early dinner crowd. A carafe of chilled wine had been brought to their table along with a plate of finger food as ordered. Neither had been touched.
“I need a favor,” Samuel said.
“It’s the least we can do after you saved our asses,” Dwayne said.
“In the future,” Caroline said.
Samuel said nothing. Caroline studied him. He was older than she first thought in their encounter somewhere in the days to come. The way he moved with the easy vitality of an athlete made her think he was perhaps in his twenties. But she could see now that he was older by ten years or more than that. Perhaps he was one of those lucky people who never quite looked their age.
“I wish you’d forget that,” he said after a while.
“Kind of hard, buddy. Any tips on the Super Bowl? The Derby? Google?” Dwayne said.
“I couldn’t help you with any of that, even if I knew what you were talking about.”
That gave Caroline a chill for some reason.
“So, this favor. It involves our special little machine, right?” Dwayne asked.
“It does. I need your team to make a trip. And soon.”
“When and where?” Caroline said.
“The year 16 AD on your calendar. September. The location is Syria. Your device is located at this time in the eastern Mediterranean, am I correct?”
“On the money,” Dwayne affirmed though he had a strong suspicion that Samuel already knew that or he wouldn’t be here. He too studied this strange man with the pond-green eyes. He reminded Dwayne of someone—someone Dwayne knew well. It was in the simple mannerisms and the way he held his head. Dwayne couldn’t put his finger on it.
“You are perfectly situated for a manifestation on the coast of what is now Lebanon, but in the year to which you will be traveling, it is the Syrian province of Rome,” Samuel said.
“You say that like it’s a trip to Atlantic City,” Dwayne said.
“I would not ask, but there is little choice and no time for an alternative strategy. You are in the unique position of being able to make a change for the better and thwart the plans of our mutual enemy.”
“Sir Neal Harnesh,” Caroline said.
“You seem to be able to pop up where and when you want, Sam. Why can’t you handle this?” Dwayne said.
“I am alone. This requires a team effort to make happen. I would go along with you, but that is not possible under the prevailing conditions.”
“What’s Harnesh up to in Roman history?” Caroline asked. She let the “prevailing conditions” remark pass.
“You must trust me on this. Sir Neal is something far more than you realize, far more than I told you the last time we met. He is, in effect, building a new future from the past. His grand scheme is to alter the history that you know in an attempt to create a world that he alone controls.”
“Hold on. I thought this whole Butterfly Effect thing was bullshit,” Dwayne said.
“There is a lot you do not understand. Effects in time are mostly local, confined spatially as well as temporally. They are like ripples on the surface of a defined body of water. The cause remains below the surface even though the ripples are gone. But the effect is only felt about the original causal event.”
“You’re right, Sam. I don’t understand it.” Dwayne shrugged.
“I get it. I’ll explain it to you later, honey,” Caroline said.
“With crayons and colored paper?” Dwayne said and reached for the carafe to fill a glass.
“So, paradoxes aren’t created by altering the established timeline,” Caroline said to Samuel. “You’re saying that the continuum repairs itself in some way?”
Dwayne took a long slug of red.
“Yes,” Samuel said. “Otherwise, each tiny occurrence that disturbed the past would have massive, catastrophic effects going forward and each excursion would cause more compounding alterations creating a chaotic environment for the traveler to return to, eventually resulting in a ‘present’ in which the traveler either no longer existed or could not return to either because the means of his conveyance was never created or he was simply never born.”
Dwayne drained his glass and poured another.
“Then how the heck is Harnesh going to alter the past to his own advantage if none of the events impact his version of the future?” Caroline asked.
“Because there are key moments of shift in the past, personalities or events that, if changed in any permanent way, would change the course of the time stream causing a split, an alternate reality branching away from the original to create a new timeline significantly different for the set pattern. Sir Neal has chosen such a moment that, if changed, will be a step toward creating that parallel existence that will be in his control.”
“That’s all just theory,” Caroline said.
“Is it?” Samuel said and regarded her with those tarnished green eyes.
The chill returned only deeper and more intense. She shivered involuntarily. She took the glass from Dwayne’s hand and drained it to the dregs.
“The baby. I thought—” Dwayne started.
“Trust me, daddy. The baby needs a drink too,” Caroline said and poured a fresh glass while Dwayne spoke.
“Okay, so Harnesh has picked a big moment to go back to and fuck with the past. I get that. But what’s his pick? When are we going back to?”
“Think about it, dumbass,” Caroline said, setting the again-empty glass down. “The year Sixteen. Anno Domini. The Middle East. Romans.”
Samuel said nothing. Dwayne said, “Jesus Christ.”
“Bingo,” Caroline said and handed him a